Cartridge.



F. 0. HOAGLAND.

Y cARrmDGE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22. 1912.

Patented Oct. 19, 19,15.

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i llzvenar: Vinnie 0 Maryland,

rrnn STATES iarmvrV OFFICE,

FRANK 0. HOAGLAND, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION 0F CON- N ECTICUT.

CARTRIDGE.

Application led November 22, 1912.

17 '0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK O. I-IOAGLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing 1n Bridgeport, Vin the county'of Fairfield and State` of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridges, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to that class of cartridges in which base-wads are employed in a metal-line paper shelltube.

A principal object of my present invention is to furnish a combination of shell and basewad,-especially with and in a metallined paper-tube shell,in which the basewad will have an end-packing ring integral therewith and so combined with and related to the shell-tube and to the lining as to normally have a pressure-bearing within the shell-tube or the lining; and will have a rel-- atively iexible formation making this integral ring instantly yieldable as and for a gas-check packing, from the initial pressure of the powder gases.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a central longitudinal section through the metallined shell of a cartridge made in accordance with my present invention. Fig. 2 is a crosssectional view showing the parts below the line X-X, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal view similar to Fig. l, showing the principal portions of the cartridge shell, and illustrating a preferred mode of forming the gas-check feature in the completed combination. Fig. 3a is a fragmentary view corresponding to and drawn in horizontal alinementwith a part of the right-hand side of Fig. 3, and is in connection therewith, explanatory of the former practice and of the features which distinguish my present invention therefrom. Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to the lower, left-hand portion of Fig. 1, but greatly enlarged for more clearly illustrating the peculiar features which are involved in the present improvement. Fig. 5 is a further enlargement of a portion of Fig. 4, for more fully illustrating diagrammatically certain features of the improvement, and especially an intermediate stage of the check-ring or `packing-flange formation. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but illustrating the final stage in the formation of the packing or check-ring; Fig.

7 is a longitudinal sectional view, on a Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

serial No. 732,804.

smaller scale, illustrating the application to a particular class of cartridge shells, of certain features of my improvements. Y Y i.

SimilarV reference characters designate like parts in all of the views.

In cartridge shells of the class herein illustrated, it has been usual to employ as a blank for making the base-wad, a tubular cylinder, as C, Fig. 8, and to have this wadblank built up or formed of a combination or compound of fibrous and semi-plastic elements or materials which give moldability under high-pressures with a resultant high stability after being so molded in place within the cartridge-shell. In this operation, the shell with the Wad-blank therein is placed within the usual holding die (not shown herein), and a guide-bar, as B, is then brought down to bear upon the head H or the primer R thereof, as indicated in Fig. 3. Over this guide B, and closely but freely fitting within the shell-lining B,or within the shell itself in cases where the lining N may be omitted,-the plunger is next brought down (in a suitable machine, not shown) to apply the maximum pressure required to mold the blank into a completely formed and properly seated base-Wad. Heretofore, however, the plunger P has been formed with its lower face, or end-surface all inv one plane, as shown at P in Fig. 3a, so that the molding pressure has been applied (in a well-known manner) to the entire upper end of the Wad-blank, with the result of extending the molding effect about equally throughout the thickness or mass of the Wad substance, even in the upper part thereof or near the plunger face; and with the further result df causing the peripheral end-surface portion of the wad-substance at the point 3 to exude and flow 'up at 3 between the plunger P and the lining N and form an objectionable fin and thus be wasted, besides impairing, in various Ways, the molding operation, and later interfering in some respects withthe loading of the powder charge into the shell. The formation of the fins is facilitated, in that old mode of compressing the Wad-blank, by the sharp external angle of the punch face, since a right-angled edge is an incising-angle under the high pressures necessarily used in this Work, and upon the materials which are used for the base-wad. In practice the 1ining N is preferably made of some metal not aected injuriously by the powder to be used, but other sheet-materials suitable for resisting such chemical action, may be substituted for the metal in some instances. For general practice, I prefer to use a lining, N, made of a sheet of metal wrapped into tube-form and having over-lapping edges; this being a well-known kind of shell-lining, I have not herein illustrated that specific construction.

That portion of the material located at the upper end-surface and near the periphery of the blank C is normally, of course, most subject to exudation upwardly around the plunger while under flowage from the full pressure of the plunger, and this normal tendency to exudation is naturally increased at that moment by the excessive outward pressure of the upper portion of the forming wad, which forces the lining. N outwardly against the paper-tube T, and thereby increases the space at 3 between the plunger and` the lining or reinforce tube N; and this diiiculty is further accentuated by the forcible compression at that moment of the paper-tube T outwardly against the headtube D, which also usually itself yields slightly against the holding die or mold. This outward movement and compressiveyielding or 'lexture of the shell members, appears in practice to be at a maximum at about the location 3, Fig. 3a, and to be variable in quantity at different points in the circumference of the shell. The foregoing objections I have now effectively overcome, in connection with the improved combination herein described, of co-acting members in the completed cartridge shell.

For modifying and controlling the com# pression and flowage of -the wad-blank, I restrict the Zone of maximum compression to the inner portion of the end-surface of the wad-blank, and to an area materially less than that of the whole end-surface of the Wad; and in practice I prefer this maximum-pressure area to extend outwardly from the rod B about two-thirds of the distance to the lining N, as illustrated, for instance, by the dimension line at 9, in Fig. 6. -For this purpose I construct the plunger P with itsworking-face in two concentric annular zones, 6 and 7, Figs. 3 and 5, and with `an i' angle-face, as 8, Fig. 5, at the annular junction of those two zones. Y

One object of the relatively obtuse ang'le of the plunger-faces at 8, is to substantially eliminate the cutting or incising action of that juncture or edge, and thus to assist in favorably controlling the normal tendency of the wad-material to separation' and flowage at that point or circumferentialline, especially when the molding pressure increases toward the maximum. The 'concentration of the direct plunger-pressure on the V.inner zone 6 of the cross-sectional area of the wad-space, appears to operate to so compress and condense the inner part of the forward end portion of the tubular wad-blank as to cause an outward expansive tendency, and

thus cause the tubular shell-members to havecompleted base-wad W, Figs. l, 2 and 4, the

direct compression is effected by the transversely-located zone 6, which thus determines the transmission of the pressure, and the lines of force indicative of the same. As an approximate indication of this action, I have located the dotted line 4, in Fig. 5, which I regard as distinguishing the maximum-compression zone z2 from a low-compression zone es, indicated also, in Figs. 4 and 6. The immediate result of this restriction of the zone of maximum pressure, and the employment of the relatively non-incising angle-face located at 8, for acting upon the wad blank C when this is composed of such material as specified, appears to be the radical modiication of the iowage whichv would otherwise occur at the location indicated at 3, Fig. 3a,.thus producing, first, a low-pressure zone at about the point z3, Figs. 4, 5 and 6, accompanied by a peculiar formative action upon the material and which, by the former practice, would normally be subject to exudation. The said formative action, which for the reasons above stated, is o-f a complex nature, I have diagrammatically indicated in an approximate manner in Fig. 5, as follows: The direct pressure of the plunger-face 6 actsV directly downward upon the zone z2, the downward transmission of the forces also spreading outwardly about as indicatedby the line 4. As this` operation proceeds, a relatively small quantity of the peripheral and uppermost substance tends to flow upwardly, as indicated by the arrow at e, and outwardly as indicated by the arrow at t. The substance thus subjected to flowage, however, being somewhat fibrous and tending during the compressive action, to increase in stability by its inter-connection with that which lies ,directly under the said inner zone 6 of the plunger face, is thus restrained against a free owage and so acquires a peculiar xed yet relatively flexible character in the flange or ring k, the ring having the substantially triangular sectional form with the thin, continuous, and relatively mobile packing edge at lc, Fig. 6, combined with the yielding zone at z3 directly below. In this manner, the base-wad has formed on the forward end of the wad-tube a packing-ring which is integral therewith and is located on the outer zone of the forward end thereof; and this ring extends forwardly with a thin lip or edge lying against the inner surface of the shell-tube, and is molded in place of the material normally subject to exudation from the end-portion of the wad-blank. The tubular base-wad Vwhen molded in place in the foregoing manner, has the packing iange located forward of an outer annular zone of relatively low density and lesser resistance, and is integrally connected with the inner end zone of relatively high density, this dense end-zone having its forward sur- Y Y face substantially inV a Y, transverse plane, while the packing-flange or gas-check device extends forwardly of such transverse plane, and is yieldingly supported on the less resistant zone, when subjected to an increasing gas-pressure.

In Fig. 5, the space between the plunger P and the shell wall is indicated by 3. In practice, as and for the reasons above set forth, the space 3 is somewhat variable and necessarily so, during the wad-finishing or compressive operation. In Fig. 6, the same space is indicated, also by 3, between the wall N and the dotted line P2, which represents the position of the side of the plunger P before removal. At la, Fig. 5, I have indicated in an approximate manner, the preliminary stage of the formation of the complete packing-ring, or check-ring, lc, with its finished and relatively fiexible edge le', shown in Fig. 6. Owing to the low angle of the face 7 as well shown in Fig. 5, the wad-substance at 7c does not much tend to flow into the space 3, but is so carried downward during the operation that only the proper amount of that material is finally directed into the ring c, thus leaving this member of the required form, texture and density, and without loss of material by leakage upwardly by the side of the plunger.

The location of the relatively low-resistance zone a3 exteriorly of the highly-compressed inner and upper zone or ring at 22, and directly below the more mobile flange or check-ring 7c. is foundtobe peculiarly favorable to the eflicient co-action of all the members under the initial gas pressure, and

under the immediately-following increasing-A gas-pressure. The resistance normally afforded by said resistant portion at 22,-as will now be evident to those skilled in the practical manufacture of this class of eartridges,-tends to augment the effect of the early stage of the increasing gas-pressure for carrying downwardly and outwardly the base portion of the fiange 7c in connection with the depression thereby of the substance of said zone .23, which under the increasing pressure from above, tends to yield or compress in a downwardly direction and thereby allow a slight but sufficient descent of the ring lc before the gas pressure approaches very nearly to its maximum amount. Thus the three ring-like portions c, z2 and z3, by reason of their individual characters and their arrangement, coperate in a peculiar manner, comparable in some respects to the action of annular wedge-members, whereby the packing action of the member if: is normally increased under a given amount and rate-of-increase of the initial gas-pressure. And these advantages are also secured through the utilization in a methodical and effective manner for the production of an additional member in the complete structure` or` combination, of a portion of the base-wad blank not heretofore, so far as I am aware, utilized in any manner.

In the drawing, Fig. 7, I have shown my present improvements embodied in a cartridge shell having a particular arrangement of tube-lengths and representing an extensive line of manufactures. This kind of shell comprises the short head-tube, D', the much longer and thin lining-tube N (preferably of metal) and the wad-tube W (preferably of paper) which is of an intermediate length. lThe flange la is here located about midway between the forward end, It, of the head-tube D and the forward end of the lining-tube, N, while the forward edge of the head-tube is located about midway of the length of the wad-tube W. In this arrangement, the checking of the gas at the flange 7c normally and favorably modifies the action of the high-pressure now transmitted outwardly through the wadtube (here forming the inner pressure-walk) against that part of the shell adjoining the forward edge 71, of the head-tube D. The slightly flexibleA wad-tube wall, as W', is utilized for more widel)7 distributing the effects of that pressure, and so reducing the degree of concentration of the destructive action at and close to the said forward edge L, thereby accomplishing the important object of reducing to a minimum the otherwise more excessive destructive action naturally exerted upon the paper shell-tube T at that location. In practice, the liningtube N, in the specific class of cartridge shells illustrated in Fig. 7, is preferably from two to three times as long as the headtube, While the wad-tube is preferably from one and one-half to two times the length of the head-tube, thereby securing the about midway locations of the tube ends as above mentioned, these approximate proportions being found suitable and favorable for securing a proper and efficient action of the packing device, and of the pressure distribution.

While my present improvements are applicable to various sizes and kinds of cartridges, they are particularly applicable to the shells for shot-cartridges in which varying powder-spaces are used in shells of the same internal capacity, and especially in such cartridges when charged with powder of relatively high-power, such as the smokeless powders. The use of a long base-wad in those cartridges not only reduces the powder space, but also (and especially when, as in my improvements, the wad-tube end is protected by the gas-check flange lc) materially modifies the manner of applying the gaspressure to the inner surface of the shell, particularly near the head-end thereof. Through the restriction by the gas-check of the entrance of so much gas between the wad and shell-tube, the gas pressure is more largely applied outwardly through the turbular part of the wad, which thus becomes a distributer therefor, and serves to even up and equalize the effects of the pressure so transmitted. For instance, it is well known how the direct pressure of the high-pressure powder gases tends to modify and distort the shell-tube in accordance with variations in the relative texture and resistant qualities in different parts ofthe tube area subjected to such direct action, one result being a rapid deteriorationof the. shell-tube when repeatedly reloaded. In my improved shell,

the protection afforded by the base-wad combined with the gas-check member integral therewith serves normally to reduce such inequalities and thus to minimize the excess of destructive effect in the relatively less resistant areas of the shell-tube.

In malm'ng the complete shell in the manner hereinbefore set forth, it will be noted that' the shell-tube constitutes the outer wall-surface against which the wad-blank is subjected while in its final position to reformation by compression into the combined base-wad and packing member. This combined member therefore is formed im, situ, infcluding its packing-ring k,with its thin edge extending lforwardly within and against said tube surface, so that in the molding operation, the material for such member k is molded in place against the same wall-surface with which it is to co-act as the gas'- chec'k device. And when made in this manner the ring 7c is initially shaped in the forming thereof, in t`o the precise character and lit required, thus directly accomplishing an `object and a result which, it is believed, -is not otherwise practically attainable under the conditions necessarily prevailing in this art. One of these conditions is the variable degrees of resistance to compression in the different parts of the shelltube surface, already noted; another is the lapping edges of the usual kind of inner metal reinforce, as N, whereby in a short arc of the circumference, this reinforce member is doubled in thickness, while this thickened part or zone will be forced into the paper tube-wall T to an uncertain and variable amount.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A cartridge shell having an outer shell tube, a tubular reinforce within the outer shell tube, a tubular base wad molded in place in said reinforce and having at its forward end two annular and contiguous zones comprising an outer zone of relatively low density and lesser resistance, and the inner zone of relatively higher density and having this dense inner zone with its forward surface substantially in a transverse plane, and a packing flange located forward of said outer zone of lower density and integrally connecting. with said dense inner end zone, said packing flange having its forward surface comprising a conical surface extending forwardly and outwardly from the plane surface of said inner zone, said annular outer zone of lesser resistance being located below said packing flange, and yieldingly supporting said flange under an increasing gas pressure, substantially as described.

2. A cartridge having an outer paper shell tube, a metallic tubular reinforce within said outer tube, a tubular base wad molded in place in said reinforce and having `at its forward end two annular and contiguous zones comprising an outer zone of relatively low density and lesser resistance, and the inner zone of relatively` high density and having this dense inner zone with its forward surface substantially in a transverse plane, and a packingflange located forward of said outer zone of lower density and integrally connecting with said dense inner end zone, said packing flange having its forward surface comprising a conical surface extending forwardly and outwardly from theo plane surface of said inner zone, said annuar outer zone of lesser resistance being lo- .cated below said packing ange, and yieldingly supporting said flange under an increasing gas pressure, substantially as described.

VFRANK HOAGLAND. Witnesses:

LEwIs D. CHRISTIE, CHAs. C. TYLER. 

